Gingerbread Men!
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A chewy & crunchy Christmassy biscuit that everyone will love to bake & decorate!
Christmas recipes
I have been asking on my Facebook page recently what sort of Christmas themed recipes everyone wanted and this was 100% one of them – like so many people asked for it, I couldn’t not bake it – GINGERBREAD MEN!
The only other Christmassy biscuits I have on my blog already are my white chocolate & cranberry cookies and my chocolate orange cookies and others – and don’t get me wrong, both of these are delicious – however, they aren’t gingerbread men.
Gingerbread
I have had my troubles with gingerbread over the years strangely enough, even if it seems like one of the most common Christmas bakes.
I have tried other recipes and they have all gone so wrong – spreading so much they form a giant cookie, or being so crunchy I feel like my teeth will break – this recipe though, its the perfect mix of crunchy & chewy, and they don’t spread! The men actually still look like men when they come out of the oven!
But anyway, this recipe honestly is my go-to gingerbread biscuit recipe, I have never failed with it since I developed the recipe and it has been a massive hit with all of my taste testers over time. I find it’s the perfect mix of all things spicy, and the biscuit is both crunchy and chewy at the same time which is what I am after in a gingerbread biscuit.
A classic
Yes, I realise you are supposed to call these gingerbread biscuits, or gingerbread people these days, but I stuck with the classic name. Also, the cookie cutters I have used for years are some my granny had, and the ‘female’ one was lost a long time ago… Needless to say, I could have just bought more, but I wanted to stick to traditions in my festive baking ways.
Other gingerbread recipes
I updated the photos for this post but the recipe has stayed the same. It’s not something I personally want to mess with any time soon! This sorta recipe is the perfect bake to top and decorate the gingerbread drip cake recipe I have, and my Christmas gingerbread cake recipe!
A must try recipe
I get several messages every year about what my favourite gingerbread biscuit recipe is and have I got anything to save the bakers from every other recipe they have tried, and this one is the solution. That is not meant to sound bigheaded in any way, but I honestly have never had any issues with this recipe in the entire time I have baked it.
Tradition
As I write this, its the day before the 30th of November, so all I can think about is how its ‘officially’ the festive season starting tomorrow, and how I can start munching on my advent calendars tomorrow.
Every year, I bake gingerbread men to munch on, and they last a good while as well. One of the best tricks? Making a gingerbread hot chocolate and dunking *several* biscuits into the drink whilst decorating the house.
Gingerbread is one of the simplest, but best festive bakes around. There is the occasional person out there that doesn’t like gingerbread, which is fair enough, but you can easily play around with the levels of spices to suit your personal tastes. I like my biscuits to be really ‘gingery’ but my brother prefers them to have a bit more spice from cinnamon in.
I hope you love this recipe as much as I do! Enjoy! X
Gingerbread Men!
Ingredients
- 375 g plain flour
- 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 3 tsps ground ginger
- 120 g unsalted butter (cold & cubed)
- 175 g light brown sugar
- 5 tbsps golden syrup
- 1 medium egg
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 190C/180C Fan and line 3-4 baking trays with parchment paper (or do it in two batches if you only have two trays!)
- Add the flour, bicarbonate of soda, and ginger to a large bowl and add the cold, cubed butter to the bowl
- Rub together with your fingers until it resembles breadcrumbs! (Or mix the four ingredients in a food processor till its breadcrumbs!)
- Mix the sugar into the mix and combine, and then add the golden syrup and egg - beat with a spatula/your hands until it is a smooth dough.
- Knead the biscuit dough, and then roll the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface.
- Roll it out to 1/2cm thickness and cut out your desired shapes! I did gingerbread men, snowmen, and Christmas trees!
- Place them on the lined baking trays and bake in the oven for 10-11 minutes, cool on a wire rack fully, and then decorate how you please!
Notes
- I like my biscuits very gingery otherwise it just doesn’t float my boat, but feel free to use less! (Or even a different spice – like cinnamon!)
- These biscuits will last for about a week in an airtight container, if they last that long!
- It's best to decorate with things such as sweets, chocolate, or royal icing!
- I don't chill my dough before baking.
- You can add in 1/2tsp of cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice if you prefer it spicier!
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J x
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Can you freeze the unrolled dough? Just made half a batch and it smells delicious, but I’d like to make the rest another time.
Yes, you can – it may spread a smidge in the oven after being frozen though!
My dough was so sticky I couldn’t cut the figures and was sticking to surface despite using flour – any suggestions on why this could have happened and how to solve it?
What brands of ingredients did you use for things like the butter? It’s usually the culprit, or the egg was too big or the golden syrup over measured x
Hi Jane
I am going to try this recipe tomorrow I don’t usually bake or Cook lol but my sister wants these and she didn’t get time to make them as she cooked the entire Christmas dinner. She usually makes th em and adds cheeky treacle into it. If I put some treacle in will the texture change a lot?
Yes, it could cause the biscuits to spread and not hold their shape x
I don’t often leave reviews but I felt I had to for this recipe. This is my go to gingerbread recipe. When thin it makes a nice gingerbread with slight crunch. When thicker it is soft like I would buy from Greggs. This is especially tasty with icing and chocolate… if I have not eaten them all before decorating time! Often I put half the mixture in cling film for the freezer so I have another fresh batch for when I fancy more 🙂 Have a good Christmas!! X Lara
Can these be made into balls rather than cookies? If so what would you suggest in terms of size of ball, oven temperature and time?
Thanks so much
I’ve started making this recipe every year at Christmas and the biscuits always go down well with everyone who tries them! Simple to make, quick to bake and tastes delicious!
Made these last holiday and making again this year. Love the taste and they freeze well too. I even made my own golden syrup.
Did you freeze the unbaked dough or the finished cookie?
Thank you for sharing this lovely recipe. The taste and texture are just what I was hoping to find
Mine weren’t crunchy at all! Is it as simple as cooking longer?
Many thanks
Yes, for crunchy ones they made need a bit longer!
Hi, is there anyway this could be made gluten free?
My go to
I’ve made these many times before and they are amazing.
My question is, can I freeze them once they are cooked? If so how long would they keep for in the freezer?
Many thanks
It is helping me get my cookbook for primary school and I am nine in p5
Hi Jane,
How long do these last for, please? From the day you bake them how do you store them and for how long?
Could this recipe be used for a constructed gingerbread house ?
Hiya! Yes this should be fine, enjoy! x
I’m planning to make my son a giant gingerbread man for his 4th birthday as he doesn’t like cake! Would this receipt be okay to make one giant gingerbread man or would
I need to change the quantities? I’m going to have a practise run and see!
This should be fine! Enjoy! x
Really liked this recipe. Thank you x
The best gingerbread recipe bar none. Everyone loves them.